December 10th 2015

Longford Leader is out today. Affectionately known in some quarters as the ‘Longford Liar’. The ‘paper’ is in existence for 120 years more or less and like all provincial newspapers has seen a serious decline in circulation in the last decade. From a previous high of 20,000 readers the circulation has fallen to less than 7000.

Younger people never buy newspapers now and get any information they want through social media outlets like Facebook or Google. The other big factor is the price of all newspapers. The Leader costs €2.20 and many people believe that represents poor value for money. National dailies and their Sunday counterparts are even more expensive.

Probably the best read section of the Leader is the ‘Local Notes’ where people from all parts of the County and further afield read all about what they already know but want to see in print. Another favourite section is the Court reports. The number of defendants with non-national names is astounding. Another feature of the District and Circuit Court reports is the recurring names which are instantly recognisable as members of the mobile fraternity. The insanity of this is that even quite serious crimes are non-custodial as the prisons in Ireland are packed to the rafters and criminals are routinely given the benefit of probation with the standard ‘stiff warning’ from the judge who literally has no choice but to adopt this route. The biggest tragedy in all of this that the taxpayer is paying for all of this crime. In the first instance as the victim and to add insult to injury we must also pay for interpreters and ‘Free Legal Aid’.

The sports reports is another well-read section of the local paper. This is more likely to be read and re-read by whoever is victorious in the particular sport being described. If a team from North Longford wins a match or a tournament it is largely ignored by South Longford readers. The memorial section is another voluminous part of the paper in rural Ireland. It’s regarded as bad form if you don’t submit a poem and a prayer for your mother or father even if they are fifty years dead. This section is predictably charged for.

The editor of the Longford Leader is a very smart young lady called Sheila Reilly. Well she’s called Sheila Reilly because that’s her name. She is a regular contributor to debates on national radio and is always on top of her brief. She is also quite easy on the eye which is no handicap for anyone in her position. Sheila is always available for a good story.

The Leader news section is this week dominated by a story by Aisling Kiernan about the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise with a very prominent front page headline which banners out in heavy print;

 “Bishop issues apology in Ballymahon".

The first paragraph reads, “In an extraordinary move, the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Dr. Francis Duffy apologised to the people of Ballymahon following Mass on Sunday over the alleged behaviour of a former priest in the parish”.

The Bishop read out the statement already recorded in this diary. In an addendum elsewhere in the Leader the headline is carried “Applause for Bishop’s apology over priest’s alleged behaviour”. In fairness to the Bishop the word ‘alleged’ was never used by him. Probably the newspapers solicitors erring on the side of caution.

Other stories in this week’s edition is more Fianna Fail diatribe with vitriol in plentiful supply from the disappointed convention candidates O’Rourke and Butler. The Prodigal knows more about Fianna Fail than the two contestants put together and their puerile outbursts have justified party headquarters ignoring these gobshites in the first place. On national radio they ended up calling each other liars. It was suggested that the female candidate already picked should not have been selected, one of the reasons being that she didn’t have a broad profile. Well the bitching of this pair of selfish boys has given her a profile that she could scarcely have hoped for. A vote for either of these boyos would be a mandate for mediocrity, at best.

The prodigal went to convention for the Local Elections within Fianna Fail on two occasions and when defeated by other candidates just shut up and got out and worked for the candidates nominated. The good old type expert Charles E. Weller coined the phrase “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party”. But then again he did specify ‘good men’.

Another major article in this week’s edition is a progress report on the planning status of the new Center Parcs project. A total of seventy seven submissions have been received by Longford County Council in relation to the development. The vast majority of these were supportive and a handful objected on what will be regarded as trivial grounds. Barring a major surprise this holiday park will get the green light.

The project brings 750 construction jobs lasting 3 years, a further 1000 permanent staff when the Park opens and an initial investment of more than €250million. This is not exactly chicken shit. The project should put Ballymahon on the map permanently.